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Hello! Liverpool lead the Premier League. A flash in the pan, or here to stay?
Coming up:
🥶 Slot’s ice baths and breakfasts
🤦 Ten Hag’s latest debacle
🗣️ Suarez takes aim at Bielsa
🆕 Landmark EU transfer ruling?
Slot’s super start: Dutch coach sets record at Liverpool
The conversation about the Premier League title hasn’t paid much heed to Arne Slot’s Liverpool. TAFC had them down to finish third and we weren’t alone in that. Broadly speaking, it’s place your bets on either Manchester City or Arsenal.
Realistically, that’s how it should shake down, but there’s a lot to like about Liverpool and a lot to admire about Slot finding his groove so competently at Anfield. No teething period was necessary. Unlike a certain compatriot elsewhere, the Dutchman is well within his depth. Slot’s is the best start of any Liverpool manager or head coach ever.
That stat has to be caveated, first because not every Liverpool boss inherited the kingdom from Jurgen Klopp, and second because they’ll reach the season’s second international break without having met any of the sides in the Premier League’s top nine. They might reach it as the division’s leaders, though, and that’s not to be sniffed at.
The Athletic’s Liverpool scribes have been finding out about Slot’s matchday methods, putting their finger on how he, for want of a better phrase, slotted in so well. I came away from the feature with the impression of a man with his finger firmly on the pulse.
Changes to bed and breakfasts
(Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Slot wasn’t handed a broken system by Klopp. Liverpool were Carabao Cup winners last season, they had the title in their hands before dropping it late on, and they were breathlessly competitive. Klopp vacated a prime role.
But that didn’t make it a doddle. Liverpool’s recruitment was light in the summer and while their failure to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad prompted a Ryan Gravenberch renaissance, you only have to skim over the depth at No 6 to realise that both would have been handy to have.
Slot, however, has rocked and rolled without complaint. He’s applied his tactics smoothly. He’s instigated little changes which, if not exactly revolutionary, are doing no harm:
- Ice baths have become part of the staple diet of recovery at Anfield. Rather them than me.
- Slot insists on compulsory breakfasts together, before a wellness check each morning.
- Unlike Klopp, he lets his players sleep in their own beds before a home fixture, trusting that familiar mattresses will give them a better night.
- It’s meetings ahoy, with video analysis at the centre of his universe.
Most of all, Slot’s in control. His players sound invigorated. And as a glance east towards Old Trafford tells you, exerting control is a huge factor in successfully handling a big club.
Tests to come
At the end of the Klopp era, there was a sense that Liverpool might have to go backwards slightly before Slot could take them forward aggressively. Because of that, they’ve been somewhat under the radar, which, for a new coach, is no bad thing.
We’ll find out about them definitively soon. On the other side of the international break, they’ll play Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and then Aston Villa in the Premier League. It’s the sort of run that could expose Liverpool, but I’m not so sure it will.
News round-up
Red alert: Manchester United, Ten Hag and another chaotic display
What else can be said about Manchester United that hasn’t been said before?
One thing, I guess, is that Erik ten Hag clinging to a thread is reminiscent of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hanging on back in the day. The end is nigh. The main man is forever on the brink. But little moments continuously succeed in dragging the saga out.
United were in comedy mode again last night, this time in the Europa League. They led 2-0 at Porto. They collapsed and trailed 3-2. Ten Hag subbed off Marcus Rashford at half-time, saying “we have to rotate” — as if coaches rotate after 45 minutes.
Then, captain fantastic, Bruno Fernandes, got himself another red card for two silly challenges. His second yellow (above) looked worse in real time than in slow motion, but it wasn’t half rash.
Harry Maguire nicking a 3-3 draw in stoppage time won’t make a whole lot of difference. The narrative around Ten Hag is brutal and this truly is death by a million cuts. Ange Postecoglou, whose Tottenham Hotspur side banked a well-deserved 2-1 win at Ferencvaros in Hungary yesterday, must think the early-season scrutiny on him was child’s play in comparison.
Pointing the finger — Suarez: Bielsa methods pushing Uruguay players to ‘explode’
(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)
Marcelo Bielsa cannot go anywhere without the Bielsa burnout theory following in his wake. I saw it at Leeds United: the cycle of debate about whether his hellfire approach to coaching (ever heard of murderball?) would run the squad into the ground.
Luis Suarez has set those hounds running towards Bielsa’s latest gig, the Uruguay national team. In an interview with DSports Uruguay, the ex-Liverpool striker said that under Bielsa, players were going to “reach a limit and explode”. He complained about the atmosphere around the camp and claimed Bielsa took umbrage with some of them playing cards.
Uruguay have produced some quality football on Bielsa’s watch and they made a good fist of his first tournament, the 2024 Copa America, where they reached the semi-finals. His furious outburst at the end of it was reserved for the Copa’s organisers.
We’ll find out in time if this is just Suarez being Suarez (bearing in mind Bielsa didn’t use him much, and he’s since retired from international football). It could be sour grapes, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Hot Cole: Palmer rested (by Chelsea, not FPL players), Veiga stars
Chelsea committing themselves to taking zero risks with Cole Palmer in the Conference League is affording other players a touch of air time. With Palmer rested completely, 21-year-old Renato Veiga drew some attention with the first goal in a 4-2 win over Belgian side Gent.
Veiga looks a bit of a bargain at £11.8m ($15.5m), though not yet the bargain Palmer is proving to be. Our Fantasy Premier League experts suggested you hold off from investing in Chelsea’s top scorer this week. Amusingly, you ignored them completely. As, in fairness, did I.
Palmer is on everybody’s lips at present. On The Athletic FC podcast, we were chatting about whether he was meant to be this good; whether Chelsea honestly expected so much so soon when they bought him from Manchester City last year.
There’s an eye-catching line in this profile of Palmer by Liam Twomey and Dan Sheldon: when the forward was 16, some in City’s academy had to fight hard to make sure he got a professional deal. It wasn’t a given. That sounds ridiculous now, but it reminds you no footballer’s success is entirely pre-ordained. Chelsea and Palmer is what happens when they click.
Around The Athletic FC
- The thing we all want to know after two rounds of Champions League action: who’s on course to finish where in the table? Look no further than this piece, which includes a brilliant prediction graphic, courtesy of data from our friends at Opta. If I’m reading it right, Bayer Leverkusen should be happy.
- Following on from Sergino Dest, we’ve got another cracking ‘My game in my words’ interview with Fulham and USMNT defender Antonee Robinson.
- Weird, but strangely fascinating, feature of the week: how a small, £180,000 ($236,000) patch of land outside Newcastle United’s stadium is niggling the natives.
- I enjoyed Alex Barker’s little YouTube short. He’s asking a bold question: has Kylian Mbappe made Real Madrid worse?
- You might have picked up on videos of Conor McGregor — the Notorious MMA fighter — pretending to kick seven shades out of Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. We’ve done our best to explain what he was doing on the Emirates pitch.
- Most clicked in yesterday’s TAFC: Jack Stephens’ profanities for the second day running. Swearing might not be clever, but it is funny.
Quiz question
Leadership in a league table is a moveable feast. For our Friday teaser, we want you to tell us the seasons in which the lead in the Premier League changed a) the most times (32), and b) the least (just two).
Monday’s TAFC will have the answer, and you’ll also find it here later today.
Catch a match
(Selected games)
Friday: Championship — Sunderland vs Leeds United, 3pm/8pm — Paramount+, Fubo/Sky Sports.
Saturday: Premier League — Crystal Palace vs Liverpool, 7.30am/12.30pm — USA Network, Fubo/TNT Sports 1, Everton vs Newcastle United, 12.30pm/5.30pm — Fubo, Peacock Premium/Sky Sports; La Liga: Real Madrid vs Villarreal, 3pm/8pm — ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Sports; Serie A: Inter Milan vs Torino, 2.45pm/7.45pm — CBS, Paramount+/TNT Sports; MLS: Toronto vs Inter Miami, 4pm/9pm — Apple TV; FC Cincinnati vs Orlando City SC — 7.3opm/12.30am — Apple TV.
Sunday: Premier League — Aston Villa vs Manchester United, 9am/2pm — USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports; Brighton & Hove Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur, 11.30am/4.30pm — USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports; La Liga: Alaves vs Barcelona, 10.15am/3.15pm — ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Sports; Serie A — Fiorentina vs AC Milan, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+/TNT Sports.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
